Crowds outside Buckingham Palace thickened during Monday, as excited well
wishers, tourists and curious passers by awaited the official announcement
that a future monarch had been born.

Some had travelled especially to London, and indeed Britain, to witness what they called “a little piece of history.” By late afternoon, helped by the attractions of the Victoria Monument fountains on the hottest day of the year in the capital, many hundreds had gathered in growing anticipation of an announcement.

Some had brought champagne, many others had union flags ready to be waved.

Beryl Moon, a nurse from Healesville, near Melbourne, Australia, takes a three month holiday every year in Britain. But she made sure that this year it coincided with the probable birth date of the Duchess of Cambridge’s first child.

“I have travelled around the world especially for this. This is the future King or Queen. We just love the royal family in Australia; I was brought up with it. I watch all royal events on television. But I really wanted to see this in person.”

She had visited the Lindo Wing last week, but said she would remain outside of the gates of Buckingham Palace “for as long as it takes”.

Anna Forrester, a 21-year-old student from Tennessee University who is spending this summer studying in London, said: “I’ve been following this pregnancy since the start. I love everything about the British monarchy. It’s more about the history than the celebrity. This baby will link back through a thousand years of history.

“And I love that’s it going to be announced with an old fashioned piece of paper, not an electronic announcement.”

She had travelled to the palace first thing in the morning, after discovering the Duchess had gone into labour, and had secured a spot just to the north side of the main gate. This was a place that was scouted by two royal press officers and the official Press Association ‘pool’ photographer just after lunch -- an activity that caused a ripple of curiosity among the crowd hoping that it presaged the bringing out of the easel, on which the bare details of the baby -- its sex and its weight -- will be announced.

That was nothing as to the excitement, however, caused by the Queen travelling back from a weekend in Windsor. At 3.15 in the afternoon she swept into the gates in the backseat of a Range Rover with an official red box and a corgi keeping her company on the backseat.

“The Queen! I can not believe it. That is just so awesome,” said Chitra Deen, a doctor from Kansas City. “I tried to see the crown jewels yesterday and I couldn’t. But I get to see the Queen. No one is going to believe me.”

Miss Forrester said: “That was really special, even just glimpsing it through the windows.”

The crowd outside the Palace, some of whom had been drinking since the morning, were keen to toast the baby. Eileen Townsend, from Hull, said: “This is all about witnessing the new generation of royals coming through. To say we were here on the day that happens would be pretty special. Though we have got an early evening train to catch back to Hull.”

The uniformly royalist atmosphere in the afternoon was in contrast to the morning, when the majority of a large crowd were tourists there to watch the changing of the guards, which included the Welsh Guards played a series of popular songs including “Come Fly with Me”, “Walking on Sunshine”, and “Sky Fall”.

Mateo Martino, a student from Uruguay, asked if he was excited about the impending announcement, said: “No. Not at all. It’ll be interesting to see, but it’s not a big deal for us.”